Michigan created quite the stir yesterday when it was announced that it would be adding Pat Perles, the son of former MSU coach/athletic director George Perles, to its staff as an analyst/assistant offensive line coach.
The younger Perles had spent time working with three different collegiate programs and three different NFL organizations since his coaching career began in in the late 1980s, but has not been on a collegiate staff since serving as Syracuse's offensive line coach in 2013.
To get a better understanding of Perles' background and expertise, we spoke with Nate Mink of Syracuse.com, who covered the Orange during his lone season in New York.
“Perles worked at Syracuse for one year under head coach Scott Shafer, and they had a very good offensive line that season," Mink recalled.
"They brought back a few returning starters on it from what had been an outstanding offense in 2012. They had two phenomenal linemen in center Macky MacPherson, who really took command of the unit and could call out assignments, and Sean Hickey, who bounced around practice squads and training camps in the NFL after leaving Syracuse.
"Perles had a good foundation to work with in his only year there, and their running game really carried them. They were breaking in a new quarterback in Terrel Hunt but were returning a 1,000-yard rusher in Jerome Smith, so the whole offense was heavily run-based.
"It actually led them to the Texas Bowl, where they beat Minnesota."
Mink went on to explain that it was obvious how articulate Perles was while working with the Orange's linemen in 2013, and that his attention to detail is one of the factors that allowed him to succeed there.
"He was a technician and very precise," the writer noted. "Perles was old-school and detail-oriented, much like his dad.
